University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics child life specialists and the UI Health Care RAGBRAI team hosted a RAGBRAI event at the UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital in Iowa City on Wednesday. Roughly a dozen kids came up to the 12th floor of the children’s hospital to interact with volunteers and learn about and experience their own RAGBRAI.
Childlike Programming Specialist Emily Baxter explains the importance of holding an event like this.
“We’re so excited to have in-person events again. It’s been three years since we’ve been able to have regular in-person events for the kids,” Baxter said. “This is just an opportunity for them to get out of their rooms, experience some joy, do something fun, and do something that’s not hospital-related.”
Program Manager for Pediatric Injury Prevention and Community Outreach Pam Hoogerwerf explained the importance of hosting an event like the RAGBRAI event.
“We think it’s really important to obviously give our inpatient kids a break from their normal routine here within the hospital. So we were super happy to be able to participate in this event again and give them a change of pace, but also give them some fun things,” Hoogerwerf said.
Anne Miles spent time with her daughter Adele at the event and said Adele was excited to receive different gifts from the stands.
“This was a very pleasant surprise. We had no idea that this was going on today, so it made us all feel really welcome here,” Anne Miles said.
